The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors for connecting a power or communication cable to an appliance or telecommunications equipment and more particularly to a rotary electrical connector assembly for a telephone handset.
A rotary electrical connector is used, for example, in conjunction with a cable that connects the handset to the base of a telephone. The purpose of the rotary electrical connector is to prevent the cable from becoming tangled or twisted when used over an extended period of time, which is undesirable.
The rotary connectors described in the related applications generally comprise a spindle at least part of which is contained within a housing. The spindle and the housing are mutually rotatable, in relation to each other, about a common axis. In some embodiments, male and female modular electrical connecting elements are associated with one or both of the housing and the spindle. The female connecting element associated with the rotary connector receives a modular male connecting element normally located at one end of the telephone cable, and the male modular connecting element associated with the rotary connector normally plugs into a female modular connecting element on the telephone, typically on the handset thereof.
The spindle typically has electrically conductive rings located around its periphery, and these rings are connected by electrical conducting elements extending through the spindle to electrical contact members on one of the modular connecting elements or to other connections with the telephone equipment. The rings are engaged by electrical contact members or wipers typically electrically connected to the other modular connecting element associated with the rotary connector or to the cord or cable conventionally extending between the handset and the base. There is thus formed a rotatable electrical connection between the telephone cable and the handset.